RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 2 AD in Teotihuacan, Totec is a legendary Aztec gladiator whose undefeated reign spans centuries, defying time and mortality. Enigmatic and Methuselean, they are the champion of a technologically advanced Aztec civilization under Roman dominion. Totec’s countless victories in blood-soaked arenas have inspired a generation of Mesoamericans to rise against the Empire during the chaotic reign of Commodus.
Backstory:
Born in 92 AD in Petra, Omar saw the annexation of the Nabataean kingdom by the Emperor Trajan as a teenager. Rather than live under the Roman yoke, Omar fled into the desert and was believed to have traveled through a dimensional portal in Egypt.
Born 70 AD in Aventicum, Jo is a passionate baker and trailblazing founder of the interdimensional cupcake franchise known as “The Swiss Miss”, whose beloved products are mass produced and enjoyed infinitely across space and time.
Born in 111 AD in Spain, Katia Cruscellio was a soldier in the fabled legion of vampire hunters who traveled through dimensional portals seeking to destroy the antediluvian scourge across space and time.
Robovid XLV is an advanced cybernetic model created by Vitruvian Systems of the Eternal Dominion that infiltrates human society by masquerading as key individuals across multiple dimensions in order to manipulate the system from within. This particular model is trained in advanced rhetoric and tuned for relentless ambition to be deployed at the highest echelons of society.
Born 197 BC in Nikonion, Joe was born a slave, toiling in the vast wheat fields of the steppe until one day he saved his master’s life by killing a Pontic magistrate who had come to arrest and execute him for tax evasion. Freed, now Joe lives life on the run.
Born 103 BC in Perinthus, Deif was a slave who toiled as an interdimensional drug mule until freed by his degenerate equestrian master who had an epiphany on Ayahuasca. Now Deif procures a cornucopia of psychedelic substances for Elektrosar, the timeless EDM festival that runs sempiternally in the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Born in 222 AD in Burdigala, Tilda grew up as a rebellious youth, often staying out all night fighting and reveling in the streets. One night she was picked up by a gang of time traffickers who pressed her into service as a gladiator in the 28th century. She made it her mission to return home to her grieving family.
Born 525 AD in Camulodunum, Lanny is a notorious alcoholic cat burglar who audaciously stole from ex-Roman garrisons. A legend among thieves, known for daring heists and unbreakable streak of luck, Lanny spent all his money buying rounds of drinks for entire villages.
Born in 279 BC in Terme, at a young age Babe fell in love with Remigius, a dimension hopping rube from the 20th century AD. Soon tiring of the domestic lifestyle, she fled to the 28th century to join the Amazonian sisterhood of cybergladiators.
Born 240 AD in Durocortorum, Bert was loyal to the breakaway Gallic Empire which lost to Emperor Aurelian at the Battle of Châlons in 274. Refusing to capitulate, he was sent to battle in the gladiator pits of Rome.
Born 1970 AD in Lugdunum, Vibrian was abducted through an interdimensional portal and forced to fight in the cybercolossea of the 28th century. A Savate and Capoeira master, he won his freedom after a legendary, crippling bout against a Belgic kickboxer, leaving the arena behind to hitchhike the galaxy. Now an intergalactic nomad, Vibrian drifts through neon-lit cities and cosmic discotheques, embracing a life unbound by purpose, where the only rhythm he follows is his own.
Born in 356 BC in Neapolis on the Crimean peninsula, Alkaia is an Amazonian warrior queen who was captured by time traffickers to battle in a futuristic cybercolosseum in the 28th century AD.
Omarosa, born 321 BC in Babylon, is an illegitimate child of Alexander the Great trained to kill from a young age. Fearing nothing, she volunteered to enter an interdimensional portal in an attempt to conquer more worlds in the name of her dying father.
Born 125 BC in Sinope, Ted was raised by circus freaks and has become well known for his talents as an animal whisperer. He was enslaved by the invading Romans and sent to Rome to toil in the gladiator business.
